The promise of tomorrow
by Kirakid
Summary: What happens when Kakashi encounters someone who is desperate to find help? Will Kakashi help him locate and eliminate a ninja who uses a notebook to finish off his enemies? Or will things run out of control? Death Note in Naruto style
1. Chapter 1

There he stood, motionless in the rain

There he stood, motionless in the rain. He clinged his kunai in his right hand and breathed rapidly. Raindrops, soaking him trough and trough, mixed with the blood on his body.

The left sleeve of his shirt torn off by a shuriken, leaving a deep cut in his flesh. Blood streamed down his arm, but he didn't feel pain nor cold. All he felt was the adrenaline rushing trough his body. The thought of surviving, no, his will to survive managed to take control over him.

Even though he weakened his opponent, he couldn't let his guard down, ever. He managed to control his breathing, as far as possible, and looked around, searching for his enemy.

'Ka-ka-shi!' He heard an angry voice shouting.

He turned around, facing the spot where he though the voice was coming from. He desperately searched for the men to whom the voice belonged.

'You'll never find me at this rate.' The voice came from somewhere else this time.

As fast as he could, Kakashi turned around.

'Za-' before he could finish his sentence, he realized there was something coming towards him but he couldn't see or hear what.

'A fūma shuriken!' He shouted in shock when he finally saw the windmill shuriken approach him.

Normally Kakashi would dodge it or find a way to stop it from trying to kill him. But not today, it was too late and an attempt to dodge would make things even worse. His kunai was of no use right now and stopping the fūma shuriken with his bare hands would be pretty stupid. There was only one option left, and he wasn't planning on waiting for the shuriken to hit him.

He placed the kunai between his teeth, bended his knees a bit and held out his right hand as if there was a stone in it he tried to crush. But he was too late. Before he could even build up a small amount of chakra in his hand, he realized it was useless.

The windmill shuriken reached him, before he even had time to decide whether he would use the shadow replication technique or just wait for the shuriken to hit him. The shadow replication technique was his last resort; he'd rather not use it against Zabuza since the clones you create with it are real copies who all gain a fraction of the amount of chakra of the one who created them. Also, if he created a few clones now, they would be in the same state as he was. He couldn't use clones that were on the edge of collapsing.

The pain he felt when the shuriken cut trough his body was almost unbearable. He felt like he could scream in pain, the kunai fell from his mouth and landed on the ground between his feet.

He did everything he could to back up, causing the shuriken to only leave less deep cuts. Because of the rotation and speed of the shuriken, his right arm was hit first. When the shuriken proceeded towards his abdomen, a large, diagonal, cut was left by it.

With his left arm he instantly grabbed for his stomach, causing blood to stream over it.

The pain he felt now was unbearable, forcing him to fall down on his knees, placing his right hand on the ground as a support. When his right hand touched the solid ground, it felt like someone threw a thousand needles in it. But he didn't care; all he thought about was how to survive. It seemed hopeless. Zabuza could easily finish him off now he was on the ground. He had to find a way to survive.

He breathed heavily, taking deep breaths but only capable of passing a small amount of oxygen to his lungs. Since that small amount of oxygen wasn't enough he started feeling dizzy.

As he turned his face towards the ground, his forehead protector fell from his head, exposing his left eye.

'Your sharingan won't help you now.' Zabuza appeared next to Kakashi and placed a hand on his shoulder. 'Are you giving up already?'

Kakashi lifted up his head so he could see Zabuza's face. 'You're just lucky that the match I had with Gai weakened me.'

'Well then, I'll have Haku remind me to send Maito Gai a 'thank you'-card.' Zabuza said with disgust in his voice.

'There is only one thing you forget, Zabuza.' Kakashi panted, he tried too stood up, but his arms wouldn't let him. 'I'm not dead yet.'

Zabuza laughed as he sat down on his knees. 'Not yet.' He whispered softly, but hateful, in Kakashi's ear. 'Not yet….'


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness surrounded him as he awakened

Darkness surrounded him as he awakened. The ground beneath him was hard, causing his back to hurt. As he reached his hand out, still with his eyes closed, he felt a few small rocks.

Was he... dead?

Slowly he opened his eyes and tried to sit right up, but failed. As he did so, he realized someone had put bandage around his arms and abdomen.

As if he felt his presence, he looked up at a man who was standing a few meters away from him.

'You're not dead.' The man said before Kakashi could even open his mouth.

'Why did-'

'You're lucky I was passing by. I saw you fighting with Zabuza and in case you wonder, I know his reputation. It was not such a smart thing to fight with him while you were hurt already.' The man looked down at Kakashi. 'Also, you should rest for a bit. Your body is still too weak.'

Kakashi looked at the man. He somehow reminded him of Sasuke but he didn't know why. His looks were definitely not the same. Sasuke, always, looked clean and tidy and this guy, whoever he was, gave Kakashi the idea he just came rolling out of bed. Even his hair seemed to confirm that.

Maybe it were his eyes, they seemed as empty as Sasuke's. As if they've seen too much, too many bad things which made him stop caring about the world, about himself, like Sasuke.

As he thought about it, there was something else what resembled Sasuke, the amount of chakra the stranger had. It could be even more than Sasuke's, but he looked like he didn't knew, or care.

The sword he had in his hand was covered with blood; he must've killed Zabuza or at least injured him pretty badly.

'You probably wonder why I saved you and who I am.'

'I won't deny the fact that I want to know who you are, but why you saved my life is not such a smart thing to ask. It could be you're waiting for me to stand up so you could finish me in a real fight. If you don't mind me speculating things like this though.' Kakashi wondered what the man would answer.

'It's true you should not think or ask about that before you're certain about the fact that your savior really saved you and is not planning to kill you. But, I must say, I'm not going to kill you. On the contrary, I want to ask you for help.'

Kakashi reached for his forehead protector and tied it around his head, making sure his left eye was covered.

'Why do you cover up your sharingan?'

'I have no reason for it to be shown.' Kakashi answered, slightly irritated by the fact that he didn't knew his name nor what he needed his help for.

'I see.' The man slightly nodded.

'Before you give me any details about whatever you need my help with, what's your name?'

'What is it you need my name for?'

'You saved my life; knowing your name seems fair to me. Then again, how can I help you if I don't even know your name?'

'I believe you're right.' The man sighed. 'My name is L. I doubt you know me or have heard from me since I operate in silence.'

'What do you mean by operating in silence?' Kakashi asked him.

'I'm not a chuunin, neither am I a joonin. I was able to read, write and think clear on a very early age. Ever since, they kept me inside, told me never to expose myself to anyone. They even got rid of everything what was related to me.' L stopped talking for a moment, took a deep breath and continued. 'After making sure no one would ever find out about my existence, they started teaching me. I learned everything a chuunin needs to know, but they also taught me something completely different. I have a task to fulfill, search and take out ninja's who turned their back to their village. But there are also special cases. I can't tell much about them, but this is one of them. The problem is, I can't do this on my own. I gathered a small group who are going to help me out. Problem is, they're half as good as an average genin. I can't send them out there knowing they'll surely die.'

'So you ask me to help?' Kakashi finally found the strength to stand up. 'And are you sure it's a good idea to discuss those things here?'

'Yes. And so you know, I'm not forcing you into things. Just realize that whatever your answer is, you should tell no one about me or meeting me. I'm putting my life on the line by telling you this. And don't worry; I've got the area secured by anbu members.'

'But, why don't you use those anbu members? They're way better than genin' Kakashi picked up his kunai from the ground.

'I agree they're better than genin. The problem is that there is still a chance of 86 for them to get killed.'

'86 percent?' Kakashi repeated. 'So, that mission. What happens if I say yes to it?'

L smiled. 'You'll have two options, either come with me or stay here. If you come with me, you'll be safer than staying here. But the problem is that if you would, people start wondering where you are. And of all people, you should know news travels fast.'


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi decided to stay in Konoha

Kakashi decided to stay in Konoha. They both admitted it was for the best. Not that people would really notice it if he was gone, he could tell them he was going on a secret mission and all. The problem, which made him stay and make sure that nobody knew what he was doing, was Naruto. Naruto would be unbelievably mad; demanding whoever to make sure Kakashi would train him.

He remembered what happened when he told Ebisu to train Naruto. It was okay, he thought, as long as it lasted. Ebisu started to realize Naruto was not just a container of the nine-tailed demon fox. And, maybe, Naruto started realizing that Ebisu really is a great teacher. But then they met Jiraiya, or as Naruto calls him: Ero-sennin, and after a while he accepted to train Naruto.

'Oh man.' Kakashi mumbled, he shook his head and looked at L. 'Where are we going?'

'Since we cannot discuss the details here, even though this terrain is secured, we're going to the headquarters.'

L's lips curled up a bit, forming an emotionless smile.

Kakashi watched L closely. The way he moved, the way he looked, the way he talked. He was so different, but still exactly the same as Sasuke. The way he talked gave others the feeling they should give up right away, since they wouldn't be able to defeat him.

He seemed emotionless, as if he didn't care about anything, but Kakashi knew better. L had a goal in his life, a goal which made him invincible until it was reached. He should've died a long time ago, but kept on living for his goal.

'Analyzing me won't help you a single bit. If you want to know something, just ask.' L said while turning his head towards Kakashi.

Even his attitude resembled Sasuke.

'You're quite certain of yourself, right?' It was more a statement than a question, but Kakashi didn't want to offend him.

'You think so?' L seemed rather amused by Kakashi's question.

Saying he was might offend L. But saying he wasn't might offend him even more. L knew what he thought before he even asked the question. Was it some kind of ninja technique, or just his intuition?

'It's amazing how well you're intuition, as well as your reasoning skill, are developed.'

'That boy you're comparing me with, who is he?'

Kakashi stopped walking. 'How did you…?' He looked at L with shock in his eyes.

'I see it in your eyes, I hear it in your voice and I can read it from your actions. If you've been studying people for many years, it's easy to predict their movement and thoughts. He's a special person to you right? I can tell by the way you're acting towards me.'

'His name is Uchiha Sasuke. He's one of my three students.'

'I've heard about him, he seems to be driven by hatred. But, I haven't met him in person, so I can't tell if we're alike.'

'Unfortunately, he is.' Kakashi answered with a small sigh.

'Just as I thought. He's gaining strength from it, but you're worried that once he looses his hatred, he looses his strength. Your other students are trying to change him right?' L asked him while he already knew the answer.

'They do. And I'm quite worried that once they'll succeed, and if they won't succeed, others will. And I have to admit, it's worrying me. Though, his strength is in his blood, as well as in his soul. His animosity is limiting him.'

'Only a small group of people realizes that.' L stated. 'I'm glad you do.'

They continued their journey, without saying a word to each other. In a certain way, L fascinated him, but there was no more time for questions, they needed to reach the headquarters before anyone would follow them.

'We're here.' L said after a while.

The building was different from what he thought it would look like.

'The building is highly protected.' L slowly walked towards the front door, without any kind of hesitation, he opened the door.

'I couldn't expect less from someone like you.' Kakashi said while he followed L inside.

They entered a small corridor, immediately moving on to a huge room behind another door. L walked towards the center of the room, turned around and looked at Kakashi.

'Welcome to the headquarters.' He said as he walked towards the table in the middle of the room.

He gently touched his lips with his thumb while leaning backwards onto the table.

'As for the mission, I'm quite sure you're eager to find out about it, am I right?'

Kakashi nodded slightly.

'A month or two ago I've been informed about a special case. It seemed that someone was terrorizing the lightning country. At first, only a small group of people were killed. They who seemed to turn their backs to the law.'

'You mean criminals like murderers and thieves?'

'Yes. After a while not only the lightning country but also the country of water and the one of earth seemed to suffer from it.'

'So it started to spread?'

'Indeed.' L showed Kakashi a little smile. 'I'm glad you didn't ask me why people like me are interested in a case like that, since their criminals.'

'If it were only murderers I might have.' He answered honestly.

'Murderers are still human.' L stated.

'They might be, but they have no right to be human.'

'I have to agree on that. Problem is that after a while, Kira, as we refer to him since we don't know who or what he is, got bored or something and started killing people who irritated him or stood in his way. People who are against him fear their lives while the group of people who is cheering him on starts to grow bigger and bigger.'

'So, if I'm correct. You want to stop Kira before it's too late. You want to stop him no matter what, but you have no clue about who he is, what his reasons are and where he is right now?'

'Sadly, but yes.' L answered. 'Still, we might have a trace that could lead us to him.'

'Then what are we waiting for?'


	4. Chapter 4

L turned around so Kakashi was facing his back now

L turned around so Kakashi was facing his back now.

'L?'

L didn't seem to react.

'L?' Kakashi said, somewhat louder now, but L acted like he didn't hear him.

'L I was…' Kakashi stopped talking, looked at L's back for a while and sighed. 'Are you even listening to what I'm saying?'

L finally turned around again. 'Hmmm… what?'

'I was wondering how you want to catch the killer, since you have no clues that could lead us to him.' Kakashi's voice was rather calm.

'At first I thought I had no clues and that it would be for the best to give it up. But..' He reached for his pocket and took out a small piece of paper. 'Then I found this.'

L unfolded the piece of paper and showed it to Kakashi. There was some sort of schedule on it.

'Take a look at it and tell me what you think.' He handed over the schedule.

Kakashi looked closely at the paper, analyzing the numbers and letters on it. It looked somewhat familiar to him.

'Could this be..?'

'The schedule of an acadamy student? That's exactly what it is.'

'You're saying that an academy student did this?' Kakashi looked rather shocked at L.

'I'm saying it could be an academy student, there is no evidence that says the killer is one. It could simply be mere coincidence. Or the killer could have had the intention to let us think he is an academy student, just so we check the academy students while he can keep on killing people,'

'If you think about it that way, you will never find him.'

'I always think this way. If we check the academy students it will take some time, precious time we could use, and when the killer is not an academy student we're back to zero again. But if we don't check them and the killer turns out to be an academy student, we've wasted a lot of time in which he could kill freely.'

'Well then, let's hope the killer is stupid so he comes looking for us.' Kakashi didn't even try to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

'Kakashi-san, you know the killer isn't stupid.'

'You think so? I find killing innocent people rather stupid.'

L sighed. 'I believe it would be best if we continue this conversation tomorrow. You need to get some rest. Tomorrow we're traveling to the lightning country. It will be a long trip, so prepare yourself.' L looked at a big black door in the west wall of the room. 'Behind that door is a hallway. Walk through it and at the end you'll see three identic doors. They're guestrooms. You can choose one and make yourself comfortable there.' Without saying another word, L left the room.

Kakashi was left alone. He once again looked around the room, but did not notice anything odd or out of place. After he stared at the table for, most likely, a few minutes, he decided to have a look at the guestrooms. As L instructed him, he walked towards the black door in the west wall, opened it and walked through the hall.

The hall way was decorated with various, old looking, paintings, big green plants, some small tables placed to the wand, small garbadge cans and a long darkred carpet.

He'd been walking for several minutes now and still he couldn't see the end of it.

'An illusionary technique?' He mumbeled.

Right at that moment, a door opened and a guy, probably in his early-twenties, rushed out of the room on Kakashi's right. For a moment it seemed he would crash into him, but Kakashi dodged and looked at how the guy lost his balance ; he'd been trying to avoid Kakashi, but without result. One of the paintings fell down after he'd hit it with his head, only missing him with an inch as it hit the ground.

'Sorry.' The guy looked up at Kakashi, trying to hide his embarassment with a little smile.

He tried to stand up, but almost fell again over a small piece of wood. If Kakashi hadn't grabbed his arm he would've hit the ground pretty hard with his face.

'Thank y-you.' He said, slightly stuttering.

'No problem.' Kakashi answered.

'You must be Hatake Kakashi then?' The guy, carefully, picked up the pieces of wood and threw them away in a nearby garbadge can. The painting itself he layed down on a small table.

'L must've told you about me.'

'Indeed he has. L always informs us about his actions.' He raised his hand. 'I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Touta Matsuda.'

'Pleased to meet you Matsuda.' Kakashi shook his hand.

'I'm glad you're here to help us. Without any help we'de be lost. L might come close to solving the case, but he can't.'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, since it's rare for L to show his face outside. I was even surprised by the fact that he told you he was L right away. Normally, for yours and his own safety, he would have told his name was Rue Ruyzaki. He knows whats going on outside, but he can't experience what it's like. Since he was small, they raised him to be the number one detective. He's grown numb for variuous feelings. Everything he says is something he learned, not something he experienced or something he felt.'

'You're worried he might die?' Kakashi looked at Matsuda, his hair was half long and pitchblack. He had kind eyes. Eyes that probably never have seen the cruelty of this world.

'Yes I am.' Matsuda admitted. 'While everyone was telling me I'd never get a real job and all, L gave me the change to help him. To prove myself to the world. I don't care it's dangerous, I just want to get the bastard who killed lots of innocent people!'

'You and many others want to.' Kakashi smiled and even though his mask covered up his lips, from his eyes you could tell. 'We're going to get him. Fore sure!'


	5. Chapter 5

He sat down in one of the few chairs that were placed inside his bedroom

He sat down in one of the few chairs that were placed inside his bedroom. Unlike other people, he placed his bare feet onto the chair. He did so because he could think better while sitting in that, awkward, position.

In front of him there was a queensize bed. The bed was made out of dark wood and the maker sure did pay a lot of attention to the details, but in L's eyes it was just decoration. Since they've placed the bed inside the room, he'd never slept in it. He was too busy working on his cases and if he wasn't doing that there surely was something else on his mind. After many years his body was accustomed to it so he didn't need a lot of sleep. As a result of that, he could work for many hours without getting tired or falling asleep.

He slowly lifted up his arm, bringing his hand towards his mouth and softly nibbling on his thumbnail.

He thought about the conversation he had with Kakashi. He sure was right, but there was no time to loose. He had to choose one of the options and hope for the best. But before they could they needed a plan. They couldn't just barge in and ask the children who the murderer was and if they chose the other option, it could be anyone exept the academy students.

'But what if an academy student is involved? What if the killer is using one or more students?' L burried his head in his hands. 'So he could take advantage of them, but why using an academy student?'

It was still dark outside as the, small, group of people gathered in front of the building.

'L, is everyone here?'

Even though Kakashi couldn't see the face of the person who was talking, he recognized Matsuda's voice.

'We'll see.' L answered. 'Aizawa and Mogi are over there.' He pointed out two people standing in front of a big tree.

Because of the darkness, Kakashi could barely see that there were two people standing over there. He turned his head towards L.

'We're leaving with a group of five people?' He asked.

'Yes. I know it is a rather large number, but we need everyone. I can tell you know the trip is going to be pretty dangerous and trying to infiltrate in Kumogakure won't be easy. Or I could better say, almost impossible.'

'Due to the fact that Konoha and Kumogakure are not exactly working together?'

'You could describe it like that, but it's better to say they're in a war. A war with an unwritten armistice. Now, we don't want that to end right?'

'So, what do you suggest?'

'I suggest we disguise ourselves as ninjas from the country of lightning.'

'And if they don't believe us? Or uncover our true identity?' Aizawa said with a derisive undertone in his voice.

'If we all stick together, that won't happen.' L answered, as calm as ever. 'But, before

I inform you about the plan I made last night, you need to change. I have various things prepared.'

At the same time L said that and old man, at least as far as Kakashi could see he looked like an old man, walked towards them. He was carrying something that looked like a package.

'You can wear your own clothes, it will take too much time. Time we don't have. I want to be out of the country of sound before the sun sets.' L continued. 'The only thing you need to do is put on these cloaks and switch your forehead protectors with these.'

'But, I can't just take this one off! It's gives me the feeling I'm betraying the country of fire!'

'Matsuda, keep your voice down. Of course you're not betraying the country of fire. If you let the killer do whatever he wants you'll be a betrayer. Now, just do what L says.' Mogi stepped forward, he had already untied his forehead protector and handed it over to Watari.

Without further ado, they'd all put on a light brown cloak and switched their forehead protectors for ones from the country of lightning.

'I'll inform you about the plan while we travel, we have no time too lose. But before we go, there is something I need to tell you. If it happens that you end up alone, don't tell anyone about the mission and please, act like you're a true ninja from the country of lighting.'

'You want us to gather information from the people in Kumogakure but while doing so we need to make sure they won't find out we're from here?'

'Exactly. Now, shall we go? We have only a few hours until the sun comes up.'

The team nodded, took their positions and began their journey. Aizawa's and Mogi's place was in the front, followed by L in the middle and Kakashi and Matsuda at the end.

Kakashi had used a small blak rope to make sure nobody could see his clothes underneath it. Before doing so, he had removed his green vest, it would only be a burden. And instead of using a forehead protector to cover up his sharingan, he used bandage. The forehead protector was safely tied to his arm.

'Can't we rest for a bit?' Matsuda asked after a while.

'No.' L answered without even looking over his shoulder.

'If we stop right now, we probab-'

'Probably won't be out of the country of sound before the sun sets. I know, I know. But why is that so important?' Matsuda said before Mogi could even finish his sentence.

'If we travel as early as possible, the change that we run into other ninjas will be small.' Kakashi said.

'But..' Matusda turned his head towards Kakashi so he couldn't see the tree root right in front of him.

He tried to avoid it, but it was too late. In panic he tried to reach for something to hang on to, but couldn't find something in the few seccond he had. As he tripped over the tree root and he'd hit a nearby tree with his head. He saw how Mogi shook his head, how Aizawa and L sat down on the ground and how Kakashi sighed before he closed his eyes and lost himself in the darkness.


End file.
